


In Retrograde

by dreamiesficfest, ohno_lovelyvela



Series: Dear Dream - Dreamies Fic Fest (Third Wave) [4]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 14:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamiesficfest/pseuds/dreamiesficfest, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohno_lovelyvela/pseuds/ohno_lovelyvela
Summary: Prompt: #DD015It takes Donghyuck two 50 dollar bills, a withering friendship, and an annoying gay couple for him to realise that he is- shockingly- in love and loved back.





	In Retrograde

**Author's Note:**

> Notes from Author: If you enjoy intense slow burns and fics filled with plot holes, then this is the one for you. I dont know how I managed to convince myself to write ( so sorry prompter if this wasn't what you exactly wanted ) but I hope you enjoy it and lemme know what you think!
> 
> Notes (14/06/2019): Okay just a tiny update,,,,,I took the time to edit tiny spelling mistakes in here. Big thanks to everyone that enjoyed it, and to anyone coming here for the first time: Enjoy! and let me know what you think in the comments!

When Taeil was still in high school, the same one Donghyuck attends right now, a boy had scaled the luxurious cream walls of the school building during morning assembly just to drop kick two letters off the school's huge logo. For two weeks, the school became "HAM" school instead of "HANUM" school, which earned the rich kid a week long suspension. That boy later becomes Taeil's fiancé, but that, is besides the point.

During high school, everyone faces some weird shit, bizarre episodes that can only be witnessed in the closed space of a high school classroom. Situations happen as though they were pulled out of a terribly written comedic chick flick. Donghyuck waits for the amusing 'thing' to happen during his high school years, but he has yet to see another boy turn their school into “HAM”. 

Another clear contrast between Donghyuck and Taeil is the younger finds himself encountering problems, throughout his extremely taxing three years in high school, related to money. Certainly, polished Moon Taeil and his perfect fiancé Seo Youngho had no such encounters during their teenage years in HANUM. It’s not to say Donhyuck's life is miserable, it might be to a certain extent, but on the bright side it leads him to laughable encounters with snobbish teenagers. and it was mostly really amusing, of course minus the being poor part.

Poverty it seemed, was just never in style no matter the era.

"Hmmm...let me see. A Capricorn, you said?", Donghyuck asks with a raised eyebrow; he doesn't ask because he doesn't remember what the girl sitting in front of him said a few moments ago, he asks because he knows it makes him look like he gives a shit. He looks at the girl, catching her directly in the eye. She just lets her eyes wonder nervously from left to right avoiding him. "uuuuuhuuh", she says to confirm and Donghyuck rolls his eyes at that. Rich girls think moaning can be a replacement for actual words.

"Okay, you, a Cancer I see", Donghyuck mumbles while slowly tapping his finger on his chin acting like he was very _very_ deep in thought and not just stealing glances at the girl's heavily decorated phone case.

The girl gasps, letting go of her blond strands that were twirling around her luxuriously manicured fingers, "How did you know?", she says in disbelief. 

Donghyuck lets out a low chuckle that makes him wince on the inside for how fake it sounds, "Please", he says loudly, "You are paying me for a reason. I know what you don't!" 

The girl nods seemingly completely trusting of what he is about to say. Donghyuck will never let her know that her dumbass had a huge glittery Cancer sign shining on her phone case. She leans in, "So what do I do now? Do I go for it?”

”No, a capricorn of the last day of december wouldn't do you any good. You are better off with dismissing these feeling. A cancer like yourself should wait for a grand moment to find her prince in shining armor. And Jongsuk of class A is not him.", Donghyuck says with finality.

She blinks at him dumbly for a moment then she sighs, "Now this is a shame, Thanks for the help Donghyuck!”, she says as she takes her two different bags. One a Gucci and the other a Dior, and she flips her hair to the side before leaving the dusty old locker room.

The moment she leaves, Jeno comes in through the same door frowning. His uniform neat and tailored perfectly to his built compared to Donghyuck's, which was Taeil's old uniform. It fit him, but not in the ways he wanted it to. Taeil of course offered to but him a new one, but Donghyuck refused to have him waste money when they already had a decent looking uniform already. 

"You scammer. How much did you get off her?", he says in lieu of a greeting.

"50 dollars including tax”

Jeno laughs out loud at his reply, "With that amount of money you could have spared her the sweet talk and let her have a normal crush on the boy”

"I would have. If jongsuk wasn't a flaming gay", Donghyuck counters with a roll of his eyes, stretching both his arms up.

Let Jeno call him a scammer, that was fine; What are 50 dollars to rich kids who spent double the amount for lunch only? 

Jeno and his fat wallet will never understand. 

”Do you want to hang out after school today or do you have more clients for the day ?", Jeno says now waiting for Donghyuck as he collects his scattered books and notes shoving them into his backpack. It was time for their shared 2d art design class. 

"Nope, I don't have any, but my shift at sweets starts at 5. Sorry pal I know you are dying to hang out with me", Donghyuck says as he moves past Jeno, who rolls his eyes at him, out of the door, and holding it wide for the other to move past him. When he closes the door to the old locker room, Donghyuck makes sure to pull the door knob upward and then slowly shift it to the left, effectively destroying the chances of anyone wanting to break in to his space.

The thing is, his space isn't really his. The old soccer locker room is technically school property however, it was abandoned for 4 years now in favor of a new high tech locker room attached to a fancy gym for the athletes right on the other side of the soccer field. His space was definitely ancient looking and used to store supplies Donghyuck was sure the school staff have forgotten the existence of. 

It was definitely not the setting that would fit the taste of all the filthy rich students attending this school, but it was the perfect place for him to give out fake horoscope readings, partially genuine relationship advice, and well, get paid. 

-

It is already 3 minutes before his shift at sweets comes to an end when the manager saunters in behind the counter looking apologetic. Donghyuck doesn't like her expression because he can tell exactly what it is. She looks like she swallowed a lemon whole, and is here to blame him for it being sour. 

"I'm sorry Donghyuck. I think you can stop coming here now", she says with a barely hidden grimace. 

He waits for her to continue out of politeness, but he had seen it coming; he was just waiting for her to kick him out the moment the new waiter started working here. He is already a week into searching for a new part time job that would not be too far for Taeil to freak out, and send an angry Youngho looking for him, and most importantly a job that was up to hiring a minor. 

His efforts were fruitless, and he was already getting kicked out without finding a new place. He wants to be angry, but he just sighs instead; it was definitely too crowded in the coffee shop with 5 different waiters and one of them being a minor. 

"I put this week's paycheck in your locker", she says while smoothing her perfectly ironed skirt, a habit she had when she spoke more than a sentence.

It is only when he goes back home, in his room, too exhausted to start his calculus homework that he starts to panic. Not having a part time job means he would have to give up about 20% of his savings to be able to buy food in the unreasonably expensive school cafeteria, either that or ask Taeil and Youngho for pocket money until he finds a new job. He would rather die than ask for more money. 

Donghyuck is already in debt to both of them.

They put clothes on his back and food on his plate, and most importantly they pay his school tuition. This was the biggest reason he was hoarding cash under his bed. He wants to pay them back all the money they spent on him when he graduates, and it isn't that far now. He didn't want to waste anymore money when he could save it and just be done with the debt; resting the couple's guilty burden of having to take care of him. 

Sometimes, he wanted to do what his older brother did. He did not want to be a coward, run away and leave his family behind like his brother did, but he wanted to runaway somewhere far away just the same. 

But only after repaying the people that were kind to him.

-

The next morning, like every other morning, Taeil knocks at his door effectively waking him up before the sun had made its way up in the sky. Donghyuck lets out a loud groan to let him know that he is awake before making his way to the bathroom. He showers and brushes his teeth in a record time. He hates wasting time in the morning therefore, by the time he makes his way past the gigantic vase in the hallway and near the only other room on the third floor, Taeil is still standing by the door to his room. His head is leaning against the door frame sleepily, so Donghyuck stands tall to place a kiss to his cheek. 

The older boy feigns annoyance at his actions before saying, 

"Don't forget to have breakfast, and lock the front door", and he goes back to sink in bed with a snoring Youngho. 

Donghyuck takes his time having cereal, then sitting on the front doorstep to tie his shoelaces. When he finally exits the house, the sun is shyly peeking over the horizon. 

He doesn't know why he finds it important to be in school ahead of time, but he simply does. Donghyuck doesn't know what it proves, but it makes him feel better to step on the freshly mowed green grass of the school soccer field on his way to his lockers room without a soul in sight. He feels at peace at those stolen moments where the earth on the soccer field feels like its holding its breath waiting for all the athletes to run and jump around and fill it with erratic energy. 

He settles in the locker room attempting to finish the calculus homework he failed to finish yesterday. He loses track of time, and Jeno rings him to tell him he's waiting for him by the classroom. When he looks at the time, Donghyuck realizes the he really did spend a lot of time in the lockers room; he knows he'll only make it on time for class if hurries out, runs across the massive soccer field, into the school building, and up three flights of stairs.

Donghyuck grabs everything he needs hurriedly, shoves it in his backpack, not minding the mess he is making in the process, and leaves running. The air around the soccer field feels more fluid now, as though signaling the life that goes around the school after 8am. 

In his haste to run past a group of friends chatting loudly, Donghyuck runs solid into someone. 

"Fuck. sorry are you okay", the boy says. 

Donghyuck’s mind makes a quick scan:

Black hair that falls very short on a round head, features handsome, cheekbones high and a soccer varsity jacket resting neatly on his body. 

Donghyuck doesn't have time to respond. He has almost 2 minutes to spare before the teacher starts calling for attendance, however the boy is still staring at him, thin curved eyebrows raised high and hands firmly resting on Donghyuck's shoulders. Waiting for what? Donghyuck doesn't know. So he just lets out an annoyed groan shaking him off to run forward. 

He makes it panting with little beads of sweat hanging off his forehead, sitting down on the seat Jeno saved him. His classmate gives him a look, but he doesn't say anything. Donghyuck is never late to anything, so he understands the odd look. 

Class goes smoothly and boring, and when the end finally comes Donghyuck releases a loud relieved sigh, gathering his things to walk out with Jeno by his side. 

"What was that about?", Jeno asks idly. 

"I lost track of time in the locker room", Donghyuck says, and if it sounds like a lame excuse he doesn't care because Jeno never pries on anything related to him.

They make their ways to the actual lockers this time, the ones sandwiched in the hallways between different doors, to switch out their books before their next class. Jeno leaves his side once he spots a friend, Donghyuck doesn't care who (like a deja vu, it happens all the time. Jeno always has someone to say hi to on his way to his locker, easily breaking away from Donghyuck, and forgetting about him in an instant), so he keeps walking. When he pulls open his locker, holding his calculus textbook in his left arm wanting to trade it with his literature notebook, a pink paper folded in half falls to his feet. Donghyuck quickly grabs his book and the paper. It rustles with something inside, so he opens it with curiosity, finding a 50 dollar bill resting there. 

_I’ll meet you in the old locker rooms by 12. Need your help with the consulting thing you do._

-

Donghyuck doesn't know who to expect just from the piece of paper; it wasn't signed with a name. Just a 50 dollar bill. A crisp one, as though it had just been printed. He had never been paid upfront before. He never takes money without at least putting one useful genuine thing on the table. 

The door to the locker room opens easily when Donghyuck twists the knob. He frowns. He was sure that he locked the door before leaving to class. It might have been that in his haste he forgot to lock the door properly. However, when he walks in, he finds Na Jaemin, leader of the soccer cheerleading squad leaning lazily on the bench Donghyuck always occupies. 

His fox like face stretches tightly when he smiles at Donghyuck's entering form.

"I see you received my letter Lee Donghyuck", he drawls in a voice so sleazy it was almost dripping with oil. 

"It was hard to miss.", he says trying to look unperturbed.

_I am unperturbed_ , Donghyuck thinks with a firm frown. 

He doesn't ask how Na Jaemin knows his name. Almost every student attending this school knows _of_ Donghyuck. The thought doesn't come in a narcissistic way. After all, they were all a bunch of horny and emotionally complicated teenagers, who sometimes would seek attention in the form of his advice. 

They know _of_ him, because they always think of him as a second thought (He liked that. He didn't want much attention). To them, he was well aware, he was nothing but a fun little thing to throw their money at when they needed to entertain themselves on the rollercoaster of emotions that was their love lives. It was fine because Donghyuck was a man of theory; he understood what his life was about, and that made it easier for him to look at others in a completely objective way, and genuinely help them if a situation did seem dire (it rarely was). 

Also, especially because they paid him to do so. 

"Well I’m sure you received it well. I can promise you more if you help me with my little quest", He grins showing all his teeth. His fingers are long, thin, and smooth looking when he gestures for Donghyuck to come closer. Somehow his actions feel condescending. It pisses Donghyuck off and he refuses to comply to a rich asshole's wishes, who thinks he can just manipulate Donghyuck with the mention of money in his own den. Donghyuck stays rooted in his place by the door, taking the 50 dollar bill out of his book where he kept it safe. 

"I consult people, Na Jaemin, I don't do quests or whatever this is. Unless you want to know which sign is compatible with yours I suggest you leave.", Donghyuck says, and he hates how Jaemin stays smiling still after that. Like he knows something Donghyuck doesn’t. 

"But I am desperate. Can't you tell?” 

Really. Donghyuck can't tell at all. 

"I have seen what you did for others. People magically fall in love after you talk to them”

Well, some did think that however, Donghyuck never played cupid. He just observed enough, and then gave those who were obviously attracted to each other a little nudge towards their probable romantic relationship. 

Jaemin wears a more desperate expression at his annoyed one, and he doesn't give Donghyuck a chance to protest again when he says, "I'll pay double, or triple the amount. Aren't you like _poor_? Don't you need the money?”, and it feels like a nerve exploded in Donghyuck's head when he hears those words. 

A million things run in his head, and he is reminded that even if he stops interacting with people, they will still somehow label him as the poor boy; the little charity case that had nothing. If they're anything to go by, Jaemin's words sound like a reflection of what everyone thinks of him. It is not like he never knew prior to the cheerleader's words; in fact, he did. Donghyuck is a realist, and he never lived off fake images and false expectations. 

Yet, he still feels his face burn up in shame at the words that the other boys just said; Jaemin pronounced _poor_ as though it was a foreign distasteful drink he was tasting for the first time. His mind runs back to Taeil, Youngho, and the part time job he just lost. 

Any other day, Donghyuck tells himself, he would have made another decision; he would have refused. And Na Jaemin is one lucky rich bastard, so he says, 

"Let me hear the details" 

-

When Taeil knocks on his bedroom door the following day, Donghyuck sits up in his bed groggily static. Taeil knocks a few more times before Donghyuck belatedly lets out a sound to let him know he was awake. The sun is still not out and the room is barely illuminated by the tiny sun-shaped lamp his brother bought him years ago. Somehow the white cheerleading uniform neatly folded and resting near his backpack on the floor shines brighter than the lamp. To say Donghyuck was shocked to find that Na Jaemin had already prepared a uniform in his fit was an understatement. 

Donghyuck quickly showers and when he changes his clothes, he decides against dressing in the cheerleading costume that matched Jaemin's and 10 other cheerleaders. Because that is what it felt like, a costume. Donghyuck had to act rather than audition and bend his back for a position in the most popular cheerleading squad in the area. He stuffs the uniform in his back bag. 

Leaving, Donghyuck finds that Taeil had already settled back in between Youngho's arms in bed, the door to their room still wide open. He leans in to close the door, and Taeil senses him. He mumbles from under the blanket, "Don't forget breakfast and lock the door!”

Donghyuck locks the door alright. Breakfast, though, doesn't feel inviting today. 

-

During lunch break, everyone's eyes are on him as he walks in the wide, clean, exorbitant smelling cafeteria. He doubts at first that everyone is eyeing him, but after a while it becomes clear; Donghyuck recognizes a burning eye when he feels one. He finds Jeno at the table he usually occupies when none of his rich friends were up to conversing with him. 

Donghyuck settles down across of him ready to ask what the hell was going on. What type of rich-people scandal is going around about him. The hope of Jeno filling him in dies the moment Donghyuck looks at him and Jeno is already giving him an odd stare, it was similar to the stare he had given Donghyuck a year ago when he walked in the locker room to find him consulting a student, voice high and fake. 

"What did I miss?", he asks frowning. 

"What did _I_ miss, hyuck?", he asks instead, "How did you even manage to score a place on the team? Renjun had been at it since September and Na Jaemin still didn't offer a spot!”

ah.

Donghyuck should have known that Jaemin would open his wide mouth and spew out everything telling everyone all the details even though he was the one who asked him to keep the process candid in the first place. If word that he was in the cheerleading team managed to spread like wild fire in barely a day, how was he supposed to remain clandestine? 

"Explain.", Jeno demands when Donghyuck doesn't give him an answer. Donghyuck looks at the other's half eaten sandwich, and then at the three girls stealing glances at them every few seconds. It might have been Jeno's good looks any other day, however today it doesn't seem like his sculptured face was the reason for the frequent glances. 

"Can we go to the locker room? I promise I’ll explain everything once we get there.”

Today the old locker room feels even more of a safe place than it had ever been before. When they sit down on the same bench facing each other Donghyuck tells him about how yesterday Na Jaemin was inside here somehow. Jeno's eyes look pensive the moment he mentions the fox like boy, but Donghyuck barely lingers on it because he starts to panic now, the weight of the uniform now heavier in his bag. 

"Why did he suddenly decide to put you on his team? if anything you can barely do a forward cartwheel. No offense", Jeno inquires, thinking out loud.

"None taken, Jen. He paid me to do it”

The look on his friend's face immediately flips upside down, like a switch had gone off in his brain; no longer intrigued by the situation and more annoyed at why it is happening.

The thing is, Jeno would _never_ understand. 

He might be his closest friend (as close as they can get with the boundaries Donghyuck knew he set, but did not admit to), but Jeno was still rich. He had his own even-richer parents to put him in a prestigious school, give him a fat wallet, and three different apartments all over the world for when he was bored during the summer. He wasn't like Donghyuck, who lived in a house that wasn't his and spent his summers part-timing in grocery stores. 

"Is this really about money hyuck? You can get hurt! what if they force you to do some fancy tricks, and you end up falling and breaking your back? Taeil wont be happy with this and you know it”, Jeno says exasperated. At the mention of Taeil, Donghyuck feels a wave of hysteria bubbling under his skin. 

"No you don't understand. You can't be annoyed at me for this Jeno. If anyone's annoyed, it is me. I got fired from Sweets and I cant find another job now. I need this money.”, Donghyuck says. 

"You don't understand”, Donghyuck repeats. And it feels so true. Not just because Jeno doesn't really know what it feels to be in his position, but also because no one else does and no one will ever do, "I will be barely be participating, they have enough members in the team. I'll just be there as an extra. I will just be there to pretend”

Jeno doesn't probe more regarding Donghyuck’s intentions so he just asks instead, "Why does Na Jaemin want you to pretend to be on the team? What is in it for him?”

Donghyuck sighs in relief at his questions. He had been holding his breath, wanting to let someone know about his plans. Jeno was the perfect ear for that; he could trust him.

"Do you know who Mark Lee is?”

Jeno rolls his eyes, "Everyone knows who Mark Lee is, hyuck. Soccer team captain. Resident senior heartthrob who is in charge of attracting half the audience during every soccer match. Rings a bell?”, Jeno fills him in with all the facts, because he knows Donghyuck had never set foot on the school's grounds whenever they hosted soccer matches, or any matches really. And it doesn't ring a bell because Donghyuck never really shared classes with anyone from the soccer team. He doesn't know them personally, and he only knows the name of one now and it is Mark Lee. He had only ever saw the group of them in passing, on his way to his solace, the old locker rooms. 

"Also, really friendly. Saw him around when my mom opens the afternoon tea saloon, cool guy.”, Jeno concludes with a slight node as though he was recalling the encounters in his head, and Donghyuck looks at him mouth open, feeling sorry for what he's about to say next, 

"And apparently he is Na Jaemin's soulmate." The way Jeno's expression changes takes him aback. He figured his friend will be shocked, but not to this extent. Donghyuck knows Jeno is smart enough to know what this insinuated, and the boy glares at him, as though to confirm that he understood what this meant. 

"Dont you think this is stepping it too far? You don't even believe in the soulmates bullshit”

It's true. He not only did not believe in soulmates (He didn't know why anyone did. It was a concept, like valentine, made to support capitalism and to trick people), but he didn't believe in love either. It scared him because people build their lives around love, when love is the most inconsistent emotion to ever exist. His own parents were once in love before they were _not_ anymore. Divorced and living in different cities now. His own brother, who he thought was his last thread of love to hold on to, had snapped in half, their brotherly relationship nothing but a flimsy rope, the moment he ran away, leaving Donghyuck alone and lonely. He knows that love is real. But he also knew that it is only real for a short whimsical moment. That is why he needed to get away as soon as he graduates. He did not want to witness another love fall apart. He did not want to witness Taeil and Youngho falling apart, because they do not love each other anymore. Despite his inner mental discourse, Donghyuck doesn't comment on it now. He settles for the next best thing to say, 

"They are both hormonal teens Jen. A cheerleader and a jock. Name a better combination I'll wait.” 

-

When he slips into the white uniform. Donghyuck feels wrongly at home in how the white t-shirt and tight pants fit him. The only other three fitting t-shirts he had were gifted to him on his birthday by Taeil and Youngho, and he only wore them on special occasions. The walk out of his locker room in the costume after school hours made him feel as though there were eyes staring at him, even though there wasn't anyone yet on the soccer field. He was early. 

He makes his way to the side benches, sitting on the dark wood for the first time ever. The soccer field feels even vaster than it was usually, and it makes Donghyuck feel even smaller than he already did in the outfit.

“Hi”, 

Donghyuck jumps in surprise. The boy he bumped into a few weeks ago stands behind him. A little too close. His voice too loud for the quiet of the field.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you", he says, smiling sheepishly. He wears normal workout clothes today, no school uniform adorned with his very-cool-cliché-looking varsity jacket. Just a Plain white tee and black joggers.

"I didn't catch your name last time you- uh we- um bumped into each other”

 _lord._ Donghyuck wants to laugh. How can anyone be this astoundingly awkward?

"I didn't throw it, genius", Donghyuck says rolling his eyes.

"Oh. haha thats fine. Uhh I'm assuming you are new to the team. And Jaemin did not tell you that we don't wear uniforms for practice”, he says pointing at his custom. Donghyuck feels his face heat up in embarrassment.

”Oh my god, fuck", Donghyuck panics. He did not want to seem as the odd one out in the first day of practice, even if he was technically, the odd one out in a group of hot cheerleaders and jocks.

"I have an extra tee if you want to, uhm, change", the black haired boy offers politely. His voice low now. 

Donghyuck doesn't even hesitate when he accepts the offer. He follows the boy to the new athletes locker rooms. It did definitely look like an upgrade compared to where Donghyuck had been spending time in the abandoned lockers room. The walls and floor felt bright and polished. The lights were brighter than the sun outside, and the place almost smelled awfully clean and of sweat at the same time. When they get close to the soccer players' section, the noises of the team members chatting while changing their clothes gets louder. Donghyuck hesitates to enter. He did not want anyone looking at him in these clothes yet. The other boy notices, and he seems to understand. He leads Donghyuck to the shower stalls. It is empty and the sounds of their foot steps slapping against the tiles rebound loudly off the walls. 

The black haired boys leaves for a second and he comes rushing back, a white tee in his hand, identical to the one he was already wearing. He hands it to Donghyuck, who holds it to feel the soft fabric on his hands.

"Uhm, it’s clean. I promise?”, the boy says in a nervous stutter when Donghyuck doesn't move to change.

"Oh!", the boy squeaks before Donghyuck manages to say anything, and he turns around his protruding ears visibly turning red, "Im sorry. Yes, you can change now!”

Changing in front of another boy wasn't embarrassing for Donghyuck. He had been to saunas multiple times with Taeil, and had been butt naked in front of strangers there. However, the way the other boy started to blush made Donghyuck feel awfully shy. Only when the boy left, Donghyuck easily stripped and changed into the huge loose t-shirt. It made him feel better. This way he didn't have to walk out and be the only one without a fit athletic body. He did not want to stand next to Na Jaemin's lean muscled tall figure and look like a lump of potatoes, or thank the black haired boy for his shirt looking like _that_. 

The soccer team, including the boy who lent him the shirt, were already stretching their limbs and running laps around the field on the dewy grass when he shows up. On the other side of the field. A group of girls and a few boys were doing a different stretching routine led by Jaemin. Donghyuck quietly slides to the back and follows Jaemin as he bends in half to touch his toes. Everyone seems to ignore him. He didn't know if it was per the cheerleader's command that no one spared him a glance, but he was grateful for it. 

"Okay guys I want you guys to make a run through with the last two choreographies and I’ll come and join you in a while”

When the others leave to tumble and do fancy cartwheels, Jaemin makes his way to Donghyuck. He pulls him closer to the soccer field, standing on the white line painted on the grass. Jaemin points at the same black haired boy from earlier, who was now passing a soccer ball back and forth between him and a teammate, "and that, if you didn't know already, is Mark lee” 

Donghyuck held the hem of the white shirt that felt too soft to be a fucking workout tee in a tight fist. _Oh._

He did not know that that was the Mark Lee.

-

The following cool days of march makes practice under the sun more bearable. Not like Donghyuck does anything remotely physically taxing, but he was still attending all of team practices per Na Jaemin's request. He needed to anyways. He had to learn about Mark Lee. Make small talk. Most importantly, he had to create situations for both of his subjects, the cheerleader and the soccer team captain, to magically meet in the middle and fall in love. 

The thought of them falling in love did bother Donghyuck more and more as the days went by. Maybe because it was Lee Jeno's damned voice of reason at the back of his head telling him that what he was doing was extremely immoral for Mark, and yes, even if he was technically morally 'helping' Jaemin. However, maybe it is because the more time he spent stretching on the grassy grounds of the soccer field, sometimes wearing the white tee Mark lent him, the more tangible and realer both Mark and Jaemin became to him. 

They were no longer just some students he knew by name. They both became more and more corporeal. Sometimes, Mark would smile in a goofy way at his teammates and it would remind Donghyuck of Youngho. He didn't like how it made him feel, so whenever it happens he'd turn away from the charming stretch of his mouth so fast his mind becomes frazzled. 

Jaemin who had come off as an evil condescending fox at the beginning, was now nothing more than a terribly lovesick hormonal teenager. He would tell his cheer-team to run through thousands of different regimes, promising that he'll assess their forms from a distance, only to break the promise soon after when he stands next to Donghyuck to ogle at the captain's running form. Donghyuck wants to blame Jaemin for the plethora of details he had stored in his mind under the file name "Soccer boy Mark Lee", but if he was a tad bit more honest he will admit that the way that Mark's soft black locks turn with the wind when he runs is a detail he had stored on his own accord. Not once had Jaemin gushed about the other boy's hair. 

"Shit, Donghyuck. Look at his thighs. How can he look so hot in those very cheap looking shorts?", Jaemin muses dreamily. Jaemin always spoke with a familiar insulting undertone that slipped into his words, even when he spoke about the boy he claimed to love. It made describing Jaemin as a lovesick fool sometimes an overstatement by Donghyuck's standards. The boy would almost always talk about how good Mark Lee looked, and for the amount of times he had described the older's limbs, one would have thought his vocabulary would extend beyond "hot" or "fucking jacked”.

Donghyuck doesn't have it in him to blame Jaemin for his extreme (by Donghyuck's standards) horny voiced thoughts though. Mark lee _does_ look good. He is definitely an eye catcher on the field. Despite his very awkward nature outside the field, he did not look like someone who stutters and blushes outside the green premises of the sport field when he slides across the grass to steal the ball. He was agile, and he got easily excited. His energy was undoubtedly what fueled the soccer team during every game. Each after-school practice was a mixture of practicing cheerleading chants and Mark's loud voice yelling _"Pass! Pass! Pass!"_ or _“Nice!”_

Donghyuck noticed that he was always praising his team whenever the practice was going particularly well. Somehow that detail had nestled its way in the older's mental folder in his brain too.

Because Donghyuck was technically almost always stretching and running idly, pretending to listen to Jaemin's instructions like the rest of the cheerleaders, Donghyuck naturally became the water bottle distributer and a human timer. He would hold out sweaty cold water bottles to panting soccer players and red-faced cheerleaders. It felt as though it was the least he could do. He didn't like the idea that he was completely useless. Especially after a whole week of practice and there was absolutely no progress between Mark and Jaemin. 

The dilemma of trying to get the athletic boys closer only lessened when Donghyuck saw them interact. Donghyuck did not know why Jaemin had sought after his help when they both already naturally interacted. Na Jaemin is the cheer-team leader and Mark Lee is the soccer team captain, and they both, almost every time they had practice, walked a lap around the field to talk about important-soccer-athletes-rich things he did not care about. 

When he observed them from where he rested at the benches, he'd notice the way Mark was completely comfortable with speaking to Jaemin. His arm, which brushed against Jaemin's sweaty lean one did not make him jerk away, like it would when Donghyuck hands him a water bottle and their fingers would lightly touch. Sometimes, he would also be laughing politely at whatever Jaemin would be saying, which was a drastic difference to how he would let out a nervous "haha" whenever Donghyuck observed him within earshot while he spoke with his teammates. 

Somehow Mark Lee wasn't awkward around Na Jaemin, and Donghyuck was planning on using that to give both boys a nudge towards each other. As odd as it made him feel. 

-

Donghyuck parts with a sulky Jeno after their wednesday art class, and makes his way to his locker to stuff his useless art supplies inside. He had bought them at the thought that they were supposed to use their own money and buy them. For that reason, when he found out that the art teacher required no such thing of them, and that the school was providing all the supplies for this particular project, he was angry. No, he was _livid_. The supplies were too expensive, so he naturally used the portion of his stashed money, which he saved for lunch, to buy them. Now he had nothing to eat, and three different tubes of artist-quality acrylic paint in his locker.

Jeno, who was still sulking, had unintelligently been bugging him to go to the arcade with him since their eight am class, but with the amount of sleep he had been getting, Donghyuck just couldn't be bothered. Jeno sulked some more at his consistent refusals, but it was okay because it was Jeno. He will get over it; he always does. 

Like a deja vu, a folded pink paper falls down once he opens his locker. Opening it confirms that Jaemin had slipped it in with another 50 dollars. The paper reads nothing other than:

_Because I promised more for your compliancy. Just do something about it already._

Donghyuck feels his face burn with a heat he was too familiar with now. He burned with shame and indignity, and at how he must have looked like to Jaemin and whoever of his minions that knew about Donghyuck. The fact that that the cheerleader had to bribe his poor ass for it. The fact that Jaemin still saw him lesser. Like he didn't trust Donghyuck, when he gave him his word. He stuffed the money in his pocket, threw the supplies in his locker, and exchanged them with his working out outfit. 

He changed his clothes in his own old lockers room. Somehow, he didn't feel right about going to the actual athletes locker room and getting dressed there. He only ever went there to shower after practice, and entered the place when he was sure everyone was done and on their way home. Donghyuck took off his uniform t-shirt along with the green tie, and stuffed them in his bag. The white workout tee he was wearing today belonged to the black haired soccer captain. He never gave the tee back. Donghyuck knows that he was supposed to return it, because he only _burrowed_ it and burrowed things were meant to be returned to their rightful owners. 

Donghyuck did not fancy being called a thief, so he did try to return the article of clothing freshly washed and neatly folded the next day. But when he was standing awkwardly waiting for Mark Lee to notice him after practice, tee folded on his hands, Mark just looked at him, then down at the shirt, smiled, and walked away. 

Donghyuck's voice was somehow stuck in his throat at the other boy's smile, and he didn't know what to do with himself then, flustered beyond reasonable explanation, so he just kept it. Days went by and Mark never asked for it, therefor Donghyuck just decided to use it because he didn't have that many workout fits anyways, and Mark's shirt was so soft and in the perfect size to hide his non-athletic looking body. Other than that, Donghyuck would feel immensely bad if he had to burrow Taeil's clothes again, and Youngho's shirts were enormous; therefore they weren't really options. 

Practice starts with Mark's yelling loudly about today's warm up routine and Jaemin, along with his cheerleaders, stretching their lean backs and limbs. Donghyuck immediately goes to follow.

"Ah, now this is a hassle.", Jaemin grumbles, "Hoseok said he can't make it at all?", he asks looking at the blonde girl in the front row.

"Yeah. Apparently it’s a family emergency or something", she responds immediately, like a puppy on standby. 

"How are we supposed to practice loading in awesome today.", Jaemin gripes with an annoyed sigh, his lips curled in a permanent sneer. 

_Awesome_ was a cheerleading stunt Jaemin had the team practice for the coming game. Donghyuck had seen them attempt it multiple times on the rolled gym matts they put out on the grass everyday and it looked painful. A group of three, usually two boys and a girl, held Jaemin up by his feet really high making him look like a giant pink neon sign with his toned arms out high spelling a 'V'. Every time they successfully managed to push Na Jaemin up high into the sky, the boy would make sure to smile bright incase Mark Lee was looking at their direction. At first, the pink haired cheerleader fell more times than five, Donghyuck counted, but he still stubbornly wanted to do it, not letting any of the lightweight girls take the spotlight for once. 

"I can fill in his spot for the day", the blonde girl pipes up looking hopeful. It was apparent how much she wanted to be at least near the spotlight if not directly under it. Jaemin huffs and rolls his eyes in response, "You wouldn't handle the weight Yerim, your elbows wont even lift straight". Donghyuck doesn't know if it is a very offending insult that the girl won't lift straight, but with the way her face falls he observes that Jaemin is just crude in his own way, not afraid to jab where it hurts.

The cheer-team leader turns his head scanning them all, and his eyes land on Donghyuck, "I think Donghyuck can help us with Awesome today" he says, and it sounds final, because he turns his back stretching his back again for good measure waiting for everyone to take position. Donghyuck panics for a second because he had never participated in any of the stunts and he certainly did not know where to begin. Jaemin clearly chose him on the basis that he was someone that wouldn't essentially replace any of the performance's main stars. 

Jaemin instructs him to stand next to two other cheerleaders. He copies their position, knees bent to stability, and hands stretched to the middle of the tiny circle the three of them created. Jaemin shuffles to stand behind the two cheerleaders facing Donghyuck. He grips at their shoulders and lifts his knee up. Donghyuck waits patiently for the weight of Jaemin's feet to land on their stretched hands. It comes, and it hurts more than he expects, the weight of jaemin's left leg landing on his wrists instead of his palms. 

"Now lift", Jaemin instructs. The other practiced two comply, and with their help Donghyuck is able too. However his arms do not stretch far enough and Jaemin straightens his back too soon, and the next moment is a blur of arms twisting, expensive shoes decked on Donghyuck's tanned jaw, and Jaemin's high pitched scream. 

Donghyuck feels his left cheek throb with pain and his eyes water against his will, but Jaemin's on the ground now wailing dramatically about a broken arm. He is suddenly hyperaware of everyone stopping what they were doing and looking at them. 

"Fuck you Donghyuck this hurts like a bitch I swear if my arm is broken I wil-", Jaemin doesn't get to finish his sentence because Mark is pushing through the crowd and questioning what happened. Someone fills him in, and at that moment a bulb lights in Donghyuck's brain so he says, "Oh actually I think Jaemin can’t walk and he needs some one to carry him to the infirmary.”

Jaemin gives him an incredulous look paired with a tight smile as though asking donghyuck if he was _dumb_ , "I said my arm-“

"No. ahh perhaps Mark Lee? Do you think you can do that?", Donghyuck cuts in.

Jaemin seems to finally understand what was happening, and he thankfully shuts his loud mouth close for once.

Donghyuck moves to hold Jaemin up by his left arm, but Mark quickly comes rushing forward and crouches down in front of Jaemin, "Hop on my back Jaemin, it’s faster this way", he says instead. Jaemin shoots Donghyuck a smile, before he happily drapes himself over the captain's sweaty broad shoulders. _It is working_. Jaemin and Mark will go to the infirmary and Mark will fix Jaemin's arms, legs or whatever and he'll be prince charming. It will make prince Mark notice how beautiful prince Jaemin is with his perfect teeth and pink flirty lips, and then they are going to kiss and fall in love with one another. Something was finally happening, yet Donghyuck wasn't pleased at all with what was happening. 

Mark easily lifts him off the ground and starts moving towards the main school campus. He takes two steps forward before stopping abruptly and looking at the dispersed crowd, “Won't you come along?”, he asks.

Donghyuck gestures at himself, confused, and Mark nods.

He shouldn't follow along because he'll ruin his own plan. But Mark is asking him to come along and somehow Donghyuck convinces himself that he will only follow to make sure that Mark notices Jaemin. _He will only follow to make sure his plan is working._ The lame excuse somehow flies over his brain, and he stupidly follows along. 

The walk to the building is spent silent on Donghyuck's part, while he observes the way Jaemin's hands caress the older boy's shoulder, and how he shamelessly does so. Mark doesn't seem to mind at all. Jaemin, on the other hand, keeps on babbling about how he heroically keeps on practicing dangerous stunts just for Mark and his team. The black haired boy only hums his responses curtly.

Through it all, Donghyuck couldn’t help but notice the way Mark's arms gripped Jaemin's legs. They were both muscular and Jaemin was obviously broader than Mark, yet the soccer boy still managed to look more stable and stronger than the cheerleader. Donghyuck can see why Jaemin was terribly infatuated with the soccer captain. 

The infirmary was by some extremely overused cliche empty, no school nurses around to help them. However, it wasn’t a perfect cliche anymore, because Donghyuck was there. It wasn't just prince Mark and prince Jaemin alone, it was the princes and the fucking supporting actor here to interrupt everything. 

Mark gently puts down a whiney Jaemin on the bed, who groans in protest when Mark moves away to see if there was anyone around. 

How the _hell_ was the school infirmary empty of nurses?

"Well, no one’s around. Where does it hurt Jaemin?”, Mark asks. "I think my right arm broke it hurts like hell", Jaemin whines again. Completely forgetting 'the I cant walk' act. 

"Can you bend your arm for me?", Mark asks gently, Completely focused on Jaemin's glistening tan arm. The complaining boy easily flexes his arm up and down without any problems except he keeps moaning while doing so. 

If Donghyuck felt like he was ruining his own plans before, then now he felt even more of an intruder. He wasn't meant to be here. Looking at both boys interacting, Donghyuck couldn't help but feel out of place. Somehow his thoughts ran and he kept on thinking about how he'll never be Jaemin. It was ridiculous, because Donghyuck already knew that. Jaemin was beautiful, tall, rich, and he had _pink_ hair for god's sake, while Donghyuck was none of those things. Maybe he had hoped he would feel different when he joined the cheerleading team regardless of himself. But that hope did nothing when he felt like he was just poor Donghyuck that did not have a single athletic bone in his body or a penny to spare in his wallet. Gently without a sound, Donghyuck opens the door to the infirmary again, and quietly slips out, the boys' voices turning muffled and distant when the door closes again. 

Jaemin calls practice end early that day. The cheer-team was already showering and packing for the day while the soccer team was still on their mock game, Mark joining in easily after coming back from the infirmary. 

Donghyuck sat on the benches waiting for the shower stalls to empty from the cheer-team members. He had already grabbed his uniform from his old lockers room, and idly sat looking at the soccer team run on the grass. He hadn't sweat much today, but getting a mouthful of Jaemin's shoes and his aching jaw asked for a good hot sprinkle of water. A short ten minutes later the cheer-team was already leaving the locker rooms led by Na Jaemin, who was still being coddled by his team for 'getting hurt'. 

Donghyuck walks in on the cold soaked tiles of the shower stalls. He liked being alone in them because they didn’t exactly provide any privacy. The stalls were separated by flimsy walls and no doors. They were meant for quick showers, but Donghyuck was so used to being there at the very end of time so taking a few more minutes didn't hurt anyone. 

The water was satisfyingly hot against his bronzed skin. Unlike Jeno, Taeil, Youngho, and even his own brother Donghyuck's skin was a few shades darker like his mother’s. Like Jaemin too. Except Jaemin seemed to shine in his own way, glistening with his healthy looking skin. It made Donghyuck wonder if he ever looked like that too. 

He must have been lost in thought, because the next thing he knows the clatter of the soccer team walking in carrying their cleats resounds in the lockers room hallway making Donghyuck panic. He immediately closes the shower, cutting the noisy flow of water, head still soapy and body now trembling from the cold.

He had no way of going out without being noticed and his head was filled with flower smelling shampoo. He should have waited for the soccer team to shower before going in. He could have walked home and showered there instead. What the hell was he thinking?! 

He held his breath waiting for the next thing to happen. Except that the first person to enter the shower room was Mark and all he did was shout, “I'm taking the last shower stall, captain privileges, and if any of you dumbasses, Lucas do you hear me, peak you'll get the worst of my towel flings” Except that, he was in the last shower stall and Mark was now making his way to a very naked Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck hastily puts on the first thing he discarded, Mark Lee's workout tee. It covered him well enough, almost half of his thighs were covered. The captain confidently walks in, shorts still on, but firm body and abs exposed. Donghyuck had seen Mark's upper body before, in fact he saw all of the soccer team's bodies exposed because half way through practice many of them easily discarded their shirts and preferred playing shirtless under the sun. It seemed that Mark had done the same today, because his chest was grass stained and it looked gross and green, but Donghyuck couldn't help but stare. 

"Crap!", Mark squeaked face turning red, "Im sorry! Didn't know you were in there!" His ears were turning bright scarlet and he was starting to stutter looking at Donghyuck's wet form. Goodness, he must have looked ridiculous.

"You are my shirt? I mean wearing my shirt ?”, Mark let out finally, still blushing and still staring. If it had been another situation Donghyuck would have removed the shirt and flung it on his perfect face, but it was literally the only thing he had on and he didn’t want to stand butt naked next to perfect-boy-god-carved-abs Mark Lee. 

"If you leave maybe I can get changed and give you the damned shirt, you idiot!", Donghyuck snarls feeling ten times the embarrassment.

Mark just let an uncharacteristically high pitched, "I'll wait outside", that did not match his appearance what so ever. Donghyuck wastes no time in washing his hair, making sure he was soap free, and clad in his uniform shirt and pants. None of the soccer boys bothered him, or did as much as peak in his stall, heeding to their captain's commands. They didn't even look at him when he exited. 

He found the older boy still shirtless standing outside in the cooling wind, sweat dry, dark green stains still adorning his body, and his black hair tousled. Why was he always noticing his hair? 

"Your shirt", Donghyuck said holding it up to Mark, who was leaning against the building, “I know its not clean, but here.” 

"Oh no! I did not mean for you to return it! It’s fine!”, Mark says briskly waving his hands, “I gave it to you Donghyuck you can keep it” This was the first time Mark said his name, and it made him feel shy. How did Mark know his name? He never really officially introduced his name to the black haired boy before. And why in gods name was he feeling shy about it? People knew him in this school. He shouldn't be shocked that Mark knew who he was. 

"Here, take this", he said instead instead when Donghyuck did not reply, handing him a blue bag “You left the infirmary before I could give you the ice pack. Your jaw will bruise terribly tomorrow if you don't put this on it”

Mark wasn't holding the ice pack before. Did that mean he forwent a shower to run back in the school building and bring back an ice pack for Donghyuck? Mark Lee noticed that he was hurt? 

The soccer captain moved forward and gently placed the cooling material on Donghyuck's sensitive bruising jaw. His heated face thanked the gods above that the ice pack was doing more to hide his blushing face. Donghyuck felt frozen, and oh so terribly embarrassed, he grabbed the ice pack away from Mark's grip to hold it close to his face pressing a little too hard and hurting himself. 

“Careful now", Mark said in his low voice, and all Donghyuck could think about in that moment was how tranquil and restful he sounded when he wasn't screaming in the field. Why was Donghyuck thinking of his voice now? This is a disaster. 

“If you wait for me, I’ll walk you home?", Mark asks suddenly. 

"Why would you walk me home?”

"You got hurt. I’ll just make sure you get home. yeah?", he reasons looking hopeful, and it wasn't like Donghyuck was going to walk home with his jaw. His legs worked perfectly fine, but the expression of utter sincerity that looked terribly misplaced when directed at Donghyuck did not allow him to say no. 

So he agrees, even though it was getting late and Taeil was bombarding him with texts wondering where the hell he was, and whether he preferred Pizza or Kimchijiggae for dinner. 

Donghyuck doesn't wait long because Mark showers fast and walks out freshly packed and smelling like shower gel. His cleats clang from where they were hanging on his bag as he walks towards Donghyuck once again. The other boy's hair appears somehow darker when it’s wet. It make Donghyuck wonder how it would feel like between his fingers. 

"So", Mark says, feeling the need to fill the vey-acceptable-and-comfortable silence with his awkward attempts at making a conversation, while they made their way down the street. 

“So?”, Donghyuck humors him.

"Does it still hurt?” 

“Do. I think the ice pack is working", Donghyuck mumbles looking ahead.

“Put a hot towel on it in the morning. It'll ease the pain”, Mark says back.

He was walking too close. Their hands were brushing and it was annoying the hell out of Donghyuck so he walks faster, trying to rid himself of the feeling that he was on the cusp of something greater than he was. 

"So you read horoscopes, yeah?", he asks. _fuck._ How was he supposed to talk about this with Mark Lee? The subject of his recent works? 

He plays along, "Yeah wouldn't you want to know? What sign are you?” 

Mark laughs, as though he told a joke instead, "I don’t really know. My birthday is on the second of August though?” 

Oh. A leo. Like Jaemin. 

"Hey! what’s that expression supposed to mean? Is it bad?”, Mark says through awkward giggles. 

Donghyuck tries to school his expression, he hadn't realized that his expression had changed. “You are a Leo. Very egoistic and hard headed”, he answers, purposely recounting the worst of the qualities. 

“Huh, well I might be”, Mark wonders looking at Donghyuck out of the corners of his eyes, “What about you?” 

“What about me?”, Donghyuck responds, confused. 

“Your star sign? are- are we compatible?”, Mark explains bashfully, like he couldn't believe he’d just asked that. 

Well, he certainly couldn't believe the Mark just _asked_ that.

Donghyuck clenches his hands into fists. They started to twitch for some reason.

“I’m a Gemini. Terribly two-faced and supposedly social”, he doesn't comment on the compatible part intentionally. He did not know if they were compatible or not. and he couldn't make up any facts out of the top of his mind right now. His mind felt terribly confused and swimming in feelings he just couldn't name. 

“Two-faced? isn't that a little harsh?” Mark asks.

Donghyuck is thankful for the front view of his house, because he had no response to that. Especially in this damned situation, when it felt like he was playing Mark for the sake of Jaemin’s money. 

“This is me. Thank you for walking me. You didn’t have to”, Donghyuck rushes out the words, hoping that mark would just turn around and leave before anyone sees him. The sun was setting and it was casting pretty golden rays that landed right on Mark’s round eyes. The black haired boy was squinting slightly against the light, and in that moment Donghyuck wanted nothing more than to pull him in and push him away simultaneously. However, Mark seemed to calculate his next move regardless of Donghyuck’s inner turmoil, because he comes in closer and smiles the darned perfect small smile of his. He puts a hand around the ice pack and guides Donghyuck’s hand back up to where his jaw was getting bumpy. Mark’s hair is still awfully soaking wet, and Donghyuck has half the mind to pull him in the house and dry his hair. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just make sure to use a hot towel tomorrow morning”, and he leans in so fast to peck Donghyuck’s other cheek before turning around and scampering away so fast, like a kitten caught in headlight. 

Donghyuck stays still. He couldn't move, for his heart seemed to abandon his chest and instead decided to settle in his ears, where it thumped so loudly, he could barely hear his own thoughts. He lifts his hands to feel his warmed cheek, where Mark’s round lips had lightly brushed against it.

What the hell was this supposed to mean? 

He yanks the door to the house open, wanting to hide away in his room, but a whistle sounding from the living room stops him, 

“Got yourself a boyfriend Lee Donghyuck? You didn't even let us know”, Youngho shakes his head in mock-disappointment, “Taeil will be saaaaad” 

“Shut up! He is not my boyfriend!”, Donghyuck hears himself yell defensively. Why? just _why?_ the hell was he feeling defensive about this? It was just a stupid peck on his cheek, and it meant nothing. Maybe Mark just greeted everyone like that, wasn't he American or something anyways? 

Youngho takes this as a sign to tease him. He holds Donghyuck in his muscular arms and lifts him off the ground. He starts peppering kisses all over his face while saying between kisses, “But his kissed you like this!” smooch! “and like that!” smooch! 

At the sound of Taeil shrieking at Donghyuck to stop flirting with his fiancé, Donghyuck pushes youngho’s face away, fighting his pouty lips. “He is kissing me though! How am I the one flirting with this doofus?”, Donghyuck gripes as he continues to repel Youngho’s attempts. 

“I guess you don't need me anymore huh? You have a cute boyfriend of your own now”

“Boyfriend?? BOYFRIEND????”, Taeil shrieks again. 

“Oh my god Taeil. It’s nothing. No one has a boyfriend. Not me, I don’t. You though? You are clearly stuck with this idiot!”, Donghyuck says pulling his bag from where it fell on the floor and rushes to his room. Taeil and youngho laugh at his outburst, and they vaguely ask him about dinner. He doesn't feel like eating today. He just locks his door and falls on his soft bed, turning on the sun-shaped lamp. Today’s events catch up to him suddenly, and he feels terribly exhausted. It felt as though he had brought with him a huge elephant back home and now it was resting on him. The window is open, and the oddly warm breeze lulls him to sleep. His eyelids weigh a million tonnes now, and he gives up on thinking; nothing made sense anymore. 

-

The next week in HANUM is just a repetition of the same stupid promposals or whatever the hell everyone calls them. Today was no different, the same scene playing like a movie on its millionth rerun, except today's leading actors were Huang Renjun and Wong Lucas. The school cafeteria is a music-box letting out the collective “awwws” and “Ahh I wish it was me” from boys and girls alike. Donghyuck rolls his eyes at that. How vain. Why were they acting like they were on a life commitment, a marriage, when it was just a stupid school organized party? Who even cared? and What kind of dumb idiot decided it was a great idea to encourage high school couples? 

Unsurprisingly, Jaemin’s opinion was that of the majority’s. Any other lifetime, Donghyuuck would have rolled his eyes at his schoolmates for the millionth time, before proceeding on his way thank-you-very-much. But now he had a Na Jaemin practically begging and bribing him to somehow make him and Mark Lee happen before prom came about. Moreover, it _is_ kind of Donghyuck’s job to make sure it happens, and he had to do it fast before anyone manages to snatch the captain. 

He did not want for Jaemin to see how absolutely stuck he was, and that he had no idea how to proceed with his plans. Other than that, he had an awkward-kiss-avoiding-marklee situation that he had to deal with first. Despite all things going out of order, he had unintelligently told Jaemin to just go on with whatever promposal he had planned for Thursday, and that he will deal with the rest. So right now, on a very long Tuesday afternoon practice, Donghyuck was not only trying to follow Jaemin’s stretching routine, but he was trying to avoid both Jaemin and Mark, who were both desperately trying to catch his eyes. Their stares were burning, and Donghyuck wanted nothing more than to pull them together and demand that they kiss. Maybe that'll solve everything.

Somehow, as odd as he found it in the beginning, it made sense now that Jaemin and Mark should date. They looked perfect together. Pink hair and black hair. Both very athletic and, well, hot. When they walked side by side, anyone could tell that they looked like a match made in heaven. The soccer captain just hadn't realized it yet.

Jaemin starts giving out the usual set of orders when Donghyuck senses Mark’s looming figure, as he starts approaching him. Donghyuck quickly makes a show of picking up his phone, where it was resting on the ground, definitely not ringing, “Jeno?", he gives out a fake gasp,"Oh no! I’m on my way!”, Donghyuck says loudly making sure everyone can hear him. He turns to find Jaemin approaching him too so he says, “Sorry Jaemin I’ve got to run, there is an emergency” 

He doesn’t wait for anyone to respond to his very badly acted out excuse before running away to the old lockers room. 

well, that went objectively well. He thinks at least.

-

Wednesday brews the air very windy on the soccer field, the sun disappearing every few seconds to stretch lazily the next few. The air is slightly stale and dusty in the old lockers room. It was getting harder and harder for Donghyuck to find time in his on secluded area. Funnily, it was getting even tougher to find time to hang out with Jeno, when before it seemed like the only person he ever spoke to in school was the smiley boy. Alas, going to practice with the cheer-team, as much as it consumed his time, rarely felt like work, even though he was being paid for it. 

He kicks open one of the creaky windows in the room, letting in a slight breeze of fresh air. He misses hanging out with Jeno, even when it feels like the other boy has a million friendships that can easily replace his. Jeno probably did not notice that they hadn't talked in weeks now. Donghyuck settles on his usual bench and takes out his calculus textbook. Cheer-team practice had been taking so much of his time.It made keeping track of his homework more difficult. He was so used to getting a head start with solving his set of problems that it felt weird to have some unsolved questions accumulated. 

Donghyuck was used to spending his days focusing solely on work, to repay Youngho and Taeil, and on school, to not disappoint Youngho and Taeil. Not that both men demanded he do well; they put him in HANUM so that he'll have a good high school experience, regardless if he was a straight A student. Yet, Donghyuck just wanted to make sure that they stayed proud of him, that they loved him, as long as possible. 

When the chatter from the soccer field starts to seep into his space, Donghyuck understands that it is well past 7:30. He had an hour before he had to run to his other classes. He gets partially through differentiating a particularly long question, and a knock cracks the stillness of the room. It definitely wasn't Jeno; he always comes to school a minute before first class begins. And definitely not Jaemin, who had taken a liking to trespassing into his area without knocking.

"Come in”

The door easily swings open to reveal the black tuft of hair that could only belonged to one person. "Hi. I hope I am not interrupting?", Mark asks gently, like he is too afraid of the quietness that surrounded the younger boy. Donghyuck clears the bench of where his books were open, “Not at all”

When Mark settles down, Donghyuck waits for him to say something while he goes back to writing, not wanting to waste a single moment of his free time, "Did you come here to just stare at my calculus homework?” He says eventually. Mark blushes, or it might have been the sun rays that suddenly creeped in the room along with the breeze. "I-i- No! No actually _yes_ -", he stutters, "I have noticed that you always study Calculus here, so I was just hoping you would help me with a problem? If you don't mind?”

 _Oh_. What else was he expecting?

"Sure. I can take a look at it right now, if you'd like?", Donghyuck offers. A particularly strong breeze blows through the gaping window, and it makes Donghyuck shiver. He should have brought his uniform's blazer today. It was getting chillier by the second. He crosses his arm unconsciously, hoping to rid himself of the rising goosebumps waiting for Mark to fish his notebook out of his backpack. Instead of handing him his notebook, in one swift movement, Mark takes off his black jumper. 

"Here. Take this", the jumper smells strongly of some sort of expensive perfume and something else that can only be Mark, when he waves it right in front of Donghyuck's face. 

"No I'm fine!” 

"I insist. I'm feeling quite hot anyways" donghyuck takes the jumper, there was no use in stupidly arguing about a jumper anyways, and he wraps it around his shoulders instead of wearing it. Oh, how ridiculous it felt. At this point he'd be collecting Mark Lee's whole wardrobe.

The soccer boy already has his own calculus notebook open, trying to work through the problem he seemed to be stuck at. He continues to erase and rewrite the same numbers over and over again.

"If you use the product rule instead, simplifying the variables will become easier", Donghyuck points out. "Oh that actually makes sense haha! Thanks”, Mark immediately heeds his advice and rewrites everything. Donghyuck only hums his response, and he goes back to his own notebook. The air in the locker room becomes a song of pencil scratching on paper and the occasional shifting of books, that is until Mark asks, "Prom is coming up soon. Are you going with someone?”, still looking down focused on whatever question he moved on to. 

Donghyuck stare at the top of Mark's head. That was a ridiculous question. Of course he wasn't going, period. He did not own a single suit. And there was no way he would burrow one of Taeil's. "No.", he says, hoping to cut the conversation short. He wouldn't know how to answer if Mark asked why. 

"Would you like to go with me?”

 _Huh?_ Donghyuck laughs out loud at how absurd Mark sounds. Did someone set him up to do this? Is this some kind of sick revenge Jaemin was playing out for Donghyuck's admittedly poor attempts?

Mark was looking at him now. Eyes round, wide and genuine. He did not look like he was joking so his laughter dies right in his mouth. How does he save himself from this situation? Donghyuck's hands begin to sweat and the pencil he was using falls off his grip as he tries, and fails, to look away from Mark's face. Away from how his upper lip is cutely curled round, and his cheekbones high and still as he waits for Donghyuck to respond.

His phone lets out a particular sound which meant Jeno was texting him. This must be a joke. He had to extricate himself, or else he'll become the butt of another joke. Poor? Cheap-ass? bum? And finally a loser ( _"Look at him"_ , they would say, _"He really thought the Mark Lee would ask him out"_ ), when this prank goes public? How lovely.

"Im sorry Mark, what I meant was I am _going_ with someone. Ah my-", he hesitates, "boyfriend, Jeno” 

Mark's face falls, but Donghyuck must be imagining it. Mark never looked quite evil to Donghyuck, but he could never trust someone talking to him nicely out of nowhere. There were a number of people he could trust in this universe, and most of them were people like Na Jaemin; they always come clean about their intentions without sugarcoating things to him. Their intentions are always clear. Mark must have asked him because the boy was so popular and rich and he couldn't believe that no one had asked him out yet, if this wasn't a prank. He was a last resort, an option he saw at the bottom of his used up bag and thought _well, its there isn't it?_ This must be it. Mark was just embarrassed to be the only one from the popular kids without a prom date. His phone flashes again and a text from Jeno shines asking where the hell he is at. Donghyuck packs up his books into his bags refusing to meet Mark's pitiful stare.

When they both leave, Donghyuck decides, fuck it, "I will let you on a secret though. Na jaemin will ask you out tomorrow. Don't you worry about having a prom date”

Mark halts his step, and Donghyuck thinks, _Bingo_ , he hit jackpot with that. The older looks at him with wide eyes, not believing. Donghyuck feels a very tiny crack forming at a very dark corner of his heart, and he ignores it. He shouldn't be experiencing any of those silly emotions, he wasn't Jaemin or Jeno for god's sake. Mark was speechless because the hottest cheerleader was going to ask him out, and who in their right mind wouldn't die out of happiness if Na Jaemin was planning on asking them out?

Donghyuck brings a finger to his lips, as though shushing Mark into keeping this secret. Mark just purses his lips in a tight smile and turns away with a slight nod, walking toward the new athletes locker room. His jumper suddenly felt heavy around Donghyuck’s shoulders.

Jeno rests his arm around Donghyuck's shoulder the moment he settles next to him. "Ah, my Donghyuck changed. He only hangs out with cheerleaders now" he says with a teasing tone. Donghyuck rolls his eyes at him, "Oh yes Jeno. I only enjoy chatting with hot boys now” 

"Are you saying i am not hot? You wound me hyuck!”, Donghyuck pushes the arm around him off. He takes out all he needs for this class out of his bag, "Not funny Jen. Also, would you go to prom with me?”

Jeno who was skimming through his textbook lazily snorts. "What? And I don't deserve a lavish promposal like everybody else? You really hurt me Lee Donghyuck”

Donghyuck jabs his arm hard with a pencil, and jeno yelps, "You're serious? What? Why do you suddenly want to go to prom with me?”

"I might have told Mark Lee that I am going with my boyfriend?" Jeno sits straighter now, eyes narrowed at Donghyuck. "And that has anything to do with me because?" 

Donghyuck pretends to look for his favorite pair of pens in the bag. "Oh you know. You get to be my boyfriend for a day" Jeno jumps moving to strangle Donghyuck. 

What was the big deal anyways? Jeno's extreme reactions can rival Youngho's any day he wishes, "I had to, jeno! They were playing a joke on me! Mark Lee really thinks he can ask me out like that ha!", Donghyuck says in a harsh whisper, carefully so no one would overhear. Jeno stops and looks at him in horror, eyes wide and mouth gaping. 

"Oh no, hyuck. Who are 'they'?" Donghyuck brows furrow in confusion; why did that matter?, "I dont know-“ 

"Exactly, you dumbass!” 

-

He ends up borrowing a suit from Jeno. Not that he asked for one; he would never. It turned out that Jeno's mom had a whole pair of suits tailored for Jeno at the beginning of the year, and was waiting for prom to reveal them to the boy with the hopes that her lonely gay son finally asked someone to be his boyfriend. When it turns out that it's just Donghyuck, he just becomes thankful that he wasn't there to see her reaction. He would have felt worse if he was robbing Jeno of a good experience, if he didn't know that Jeno was as single as he was. They'll enjoy prom, somehow, as friends. 

He smuggles in the suit to his room when he knows for sure that both Taeil and Youngho are distracted. He irons it carefully, and put it on. Somehow it fit him better than his uniform. It was a little bit loose around the shoulders, but nothing too noticeable. He fixes his messy hair easily, and puts on the slightest touch of eyeliner. It makes his eyes appear darker and larger; he liked how it made him look, almost like a super star. Now he just had to figure out how to leave without letting anyone spot him. He had agreed to meet Jeno by the old lockers room, so that they can head to the auditorium together, where the event was held.

Instead of his carefully calculated plans for the day, what happens is another of Taeil's loud shrieks sounds through the house, and he barges in to donghyuck's room, _rude_ , and pulls him by the ear to the living room. He finds Jeno sitting on the couch, smiling, next to an amused Youngho. Donghyuck glares at Jeno. He really had to come out and ruin his plans. Why did this boy never listen to him! 

He was definitely getting punched today.

"You didn't even let me know that you were going!" Taeil fusses, moving to fix Donghyuck's tie from where it got crooked while he was being pulled. "You don't even have a flower pinned! Is that eyeliner?! Oh baby you are growing up so fast!" He holds Donghyuck's face in his palms.

_Oh god _, Donghyuck thinks, _are those tears?___

____

____

"Hyung, it's not that deep. Jeno and I are just going to hang out at school….in suits" Donghyuck sighs when Taeil just hugs him. Donghyuck moves to hug him back. How could he not when Taeil was being that cutest and biggest baby in the room? "Now now, Donghyuck. Already brought two boys to the house and stealing my fiancé? Not cool bro", Youngho says with a lighhearted laugh.

"Two boys?" Jeno asks curiously, and Donghyuck almost forgets he was there. "Yeah, one that gave him kisses" Taeil says, wiggling his eyebrows. Donghyuck groans, "Oh god stop. C'mon Jeno we are leaving", he pulls the other boy off his seat before Taeil and Youngho smother him with anymore kisses; he'll never admit that he likes it. 

Jeno allows himself to be pulled, and once they settle in his car, "kisses? really?" Donghyuck just looks out of the window, "I'm telling you it's probably a sick prank" Jeno laughs, "you really are oblivious for someone who claims to be observant" 

For some reason, Jeno had been trying to convince him that Mark Lee, a whole ass popular jock, had a crush on him. "I am not delusional Jen. Besides, won't that ruin everything for Jaemin. Kinda my job to get them together”, he reminds the other boy. Jeno gives him a glance, "I thought you were done with that?”

Technically he should be after last Thursday. He wasn't there, but according to witnesses (Jeno) Jaemin had hired a singer and installed lights in the cafeteria, so that when the handsome soccer captain enters, he _performs_ his confession. The cafeteria stayed flooded with rose petals for two days after that, and the gossip for even longer. Mark had agreed and Jaemin, who was ecstatic, was found hanging of Mark's arm like a shinning pink charm for the rest of the days. Rumors have it that Jaemin almost gave Mark a lap dance before a teacher stopped them. Donghyuck would never know if it was true, because he refused to see it all in action after giving Jaemin the green light to go on with his plans. He could not bear to see another happily-ever-after that wasn't him, that was never going to be him. As selfish as it sounded.

The sun is already setting, and it feels odd to head to school when the moon is up in the purple sky. Donghyuck looks at the passing lights, like fairies rushing past Jeno’s car. He glances at his friend, who was patiently waiting for him to speak, so he replies “And they lived happily after”

-

The auditorium is lit with blue, purple, and pink lights, which bounced off every corner and reflected against all the shiny surfaces in the area. It gives Donghyuck a mild discomfort that he knows will turn into a migraine in the following hours. Jeno had been stopped by a bunch of students Donghyuck had seen before; their faces a blur of features that he still can’t remember specifically. He wants to be annoyed for being abandoned by his fake-boyfriend, but there is so much acting that can be done in a span of a month that Donghyuck can tolerate. He lets jeno be his usual social self, standing handsomely in his attractive suit effortlessly spell-bounding both boys and girls. 

Donghyuck had never attended any of the events the school held before. He was either flooded with homework, refusing to accompany Jeno, who eventually gave up on asking him to visit school functions, or he would be at an odd job, serving a table or wiping a window pane. So it was unusual on some level, seeing some of his classmate completely drunk on sugar (some he suspected on real alcohol), and dancing with wide smiles on their faces. They adorned every corner of the auditorium in couples, and they were mostly sucking on each other’s faces. Donghyuck wondered if Mark and Jaemin were doing just that somewhere here; he stopped looking around at that thought. It wasn't his business anymore anyway. The music slowly turns into something loud, and it overpowers all the chatter that filled the auditorium previously. The bass started to thump loudly in his ear and he remembers how his own heart turned him deaf in the same exact way when Mark had kissed him. 

He dispenses the thought somewhere far away from his conscious mind in favor of doing something, instead of standing idly like a lone loser. He drags himself to the wide tables filled with various versions of sugar-infested drinks and snacks hoping that being sugar-high would settle down the weird feeling that was in his stomach. Sweaty bodies bump into him, long dresses entangle with his shoes, and he almost trips. 

Glitter keeps on falling on him from somewhere, and he eventually gives up on trying to shake it off. When he manages to get himself a drink, he spots a list of names on a very huge paper stuck on the wall. “VOTE FOR THE COUPLE OF THE NIGHT” is written in a very cheesy cursive handwriting. Donghyuck snorts. Of course they’d do something like this. Upon a closer look, he finds that the two leading couples brutally battling for the first place as the school’s favorite couple of the night, are none other than “Renjun&Lucas” and “Mark&Jaemin”. His stomach churns at what he finds, so he abandons his drink; Donghyuck blames it for the bad aftertaste in his mouth. 

The music is still annoyingly loud and the migraine he had feared is slowly settling behind his eyes. He scans the crowd, hoping to find Jeno, to let him know that he’s leaving for a breather. He spots him with Mark, who looks ridiculously handsome, more so than usual. Even more handsome than Lee Jeno, who usually outshone the rainbows and stars. Mark’s hair is slicked back neatly, and his suit is simpler than their’s, only a long thin tie and pants so fitting they seemed to make the older's legs look endless. 

It makes Donghyuck annoyed. How was no one else seeing Mark the way he could _only_ see him? He was dazzlingly shinning midst the students, and Donghyuck mildly wonders if the glitter which covered the air was a courtesy of his presence. The lights in the auditorium turn to different shades of blue, it makes Donghyuck feels dizziness that was almost suffocating. He gives up on reaching Jeno, because he can’t be near the captain with his feelings in shambles. He makes his way to the entrance. Someone bumps into him again, he apologizes, and he finally, finally, reaches the huge doors of the auditorium. A breeze sneaks in before he manages to make it out and it calms him down. He is just about to step out when his forearm is held in a firm grasp. He is about to apologize for bumping into someone once again, but his left eye is now hurting and burning from the headache. He puzzles over how everyone was still laughing and enjoying this mixture of torturing colors. 

When he comes about, he finds Na jaemin holding his forearm in a vice grip. Donghyuck wants to tell him to let go. The music is not so loud near the entrance, and he thinks he can almost hear Jaemin breathing loudly. or was it him? 

The cheerleader has his hair styled in pink curls that framed his forehead. He looked good, even better than he usually looked, but still, Donghyuck wondered why no one seemed to be on par with Mark Lee’s presence today, who he only managed to see for a few seconds and still be hopelessly enamored with. Jaemin looks at him with an angry glare. He doesn't look happy and Donghyuck doesn't understand. He cant think or understand why he would be angry. Wasn’t he supposed to be kissing his boyfriend somewhere? Wasn't that enough for him to be over the moon? Why was Na Jaemin this greedy? “Lee Donghyuck did this! Lee Donghyuck did that! _Oh jaemin have you seen Donghyuck?_ You really think you can have it all?”, Jaemin yells at him. It sounds more like a harsh growl, “I knew I couldn't trust you with this. I should have known a snake like you would take him _again._ I payed you to make Mark love me!”

Donghyuck watches Jaemin’s glossed lips move with furious motions, he can't hear a thing anymore, and his heart hurts because they all sound mean and he just feels confused. He wants to yank his arm back and tell Jaemin off, and just leave. but in a perplexing second, Jaemin’s lips, which were spitting curses at him, end up landing on his. And it feels sticky as Jaemin’s lips move against his forcefully. He bites on Donghyuck’s lower lip and it burns like hell, and his front teeth might just fall off due to the impact. The kiss feels like a _hit_ ; like Jaemin meant to hurt him, so he struggles to push the cheerleader away. The breathing is so loud now, Donghyuck now recognizes that it is coming from him. 

The lights are mostly pink now, and Donghyuck observes that Jaemin once again managed to gather their audience. Right at his back Mark stands. Donghyuck drops his hands in a cold sweat. 

“Is this true?”

Donghyuck opens his mouth to say something, and he feels his lips numb, like his mouth was dirty. No words form and he can’t reply. He couldn't confirm nor deny the accusations. Were they accusations if they were real? 

Mark takes a step forward, and Donghyuck sees that a few hair strands had fallen on his forehead. And _god_ , how did he manage to make that look like art? Why did he have to be here? Why did have to hear everything Jaemin said? Why did Jaemin bite his lips off like that? Why couldn't they just live a happy-ever-after very far from him? 

Donghyuck feels anger surge in him body at everything, like a flame setting a pile of hay on fire, and he knows if he does as much as blink he’ll explode. “Is what Jaemin said true?”, Mark purses his lips to a thin line, and he looks so awfully hurt that Donghyuck thinks he hears a deafening crack somewhere. 

If his emotions were merely ricocheting of his heart before, now they were drowning him. Donghyuck was drunk under water, and he did not know how to swim. 

“Did you really think he’ll ever like you? I payed him Mark, and just know you will regret this. Lee Donghyuck is nothing and you aren't doing yourself a favor by stooping this low” 

Donghyuck runs out before he listens to more, Jaemin sounding more like the torturing music in the background, and he feels the earth beneath his feet and the dark sky above his head. His breathing slows a little, and he fumbles with his phone trying to call Jeno. He couldn't stay here any longer. He just wanted to go back home while Jaemin’s words hadn't hit him yet. He listens to the familiar ring tone and he sees Jeno standing right at the entrance of the auditorium, not noticing him. Jeno looks down at his phone, and Donghyuck waits for him to pick up the phone. however, Jeno looks at his phone, closes it, completely ignoring Donghyuck, before tucking it back in his breast pocket. 

The dam breaks and his tears fall. He had seen it coming, but watching Jeno ignore him felt like a bigger blow than he initially anticipated. His fingers are shaking when he tries to call Taeil and ask him to pick him up, but he is not picking up his phone either, so he calls Youngho instead who picks up immediately. 

“Are you okay?!”, Youngho whispers urgently, when all he’s confronted with are Donghyuck’s shaky muffled sobs and loud breathing. Donghyuck lets out shakily, “Please just take me away”

Youngho finds him standing on the curb. Donghyuck automatically goes for the back seat; he was used to having both Youngho and Taeil occupy the front seat, so it never felt right for him to settle there. Only when he sits down Donghyuck realizes how exhausted he was for insisting on standing while waiting. He couldn’t risk ruining the suit by sitting on the dirty curb. Youngho refuses to drive for a few minutes, looking back at Donghyuck. He must have looked terrible with a tear stained face, messy hair, and ruined eyeliner. 

“Please I want to go home”, his voice breaks and Youngho squeezes his hand once before driving out. Donghyuck closes his eyes and the familiar rumble of the car soothes the migraine slightly. His back feels stiff, but he doesn't bother to move and fix his position. 

Youngho takes him by the shoulder once they arrive, and Donghyuck gives in, slumping against the older man. He was unusually quiet, not bombarding Donghyuck with a million questions like he would usually, and Donghyuck is thankful for it. 

Little did he know it was the calm before the storm. A storm he had been dreading for years. The house is oddly quiet when they enter. There isn't Taeil clanging pots and pans in the kitchen, or watching game of thrones loudly in the living room. It becomes clear when, instead he finds him sitting on Donghyuck’s bed, back to the door. At the sound of their entrance, Youngho’s arm tightens on his shoulder, and Taeil turns back to look at him, stare hard and furious.

“What is the meaning of this?!” He brings up the stack of neatly folded cash to his face. The folds wrinkle in his firm grip, as the stacks he thought he hid so well stare back at him with an equally furious stare. Donghyuck didn't know he was openly crying until Youngho turns him around in his arm, holding him close, hard chest against his cheek. 

“Not today babe.”, Youngho’s voice rumbles, and Donghyuck does not think he deserves this. Why wasn't Youngho angry like Taeil was? Donghyuck was too afraid of looking at Taeil’s infuriated stare again, but he was even _more_ frightened of Youngho’s kind touch. 

He struggles against Youngho’s arms, and when he’s finally free he sees Taeil looking at him from a pool of cash that Donghyuck hid for many years under the bed. Before any of them can say anything, he shuffles away, breaking into a run to the door. He abandons it open. Only when he's running in the street he registers that he had no where to go. He had ruined the only home he had, and expired the only friendship he possessed. His feet take him back to school. A path so familiar that he had gone there unconsciously. He sneaks in from the back to the old locker room. The air is even stuffier durning the night in the room, but donghyuck settles in anyway. 

He sits in the corner, avoiding his usual benches, and curls to himself. He should have seen this coming. What Jaemin said is true. He is nothing. He had fooled himself into thinking he was deserving of love and a life with the kindest people he knew. Instead, fate had come for him when he least suspected. Now the love they had for him had run out. 

Donghyuck had to find a way to stay far. Taeil found the money he was planning to give them. It wasn't the full amount but it was almost enough. All he had to do now is find an actual job, graduate, and move to another city like his parents and brother did. 

His tears do not dry out for a while, and it makes him question how and when did he have so many things to cry about at once. He laughs when he thinks back to how he wanted to run away before Taeil and Youngho fell out of love. Funny how they fall out of love with him first. He was sure none of the people he held close to his heart wanted to see him anymore. He was a walking mess. 

He opens his phone to find it filled with texts and calls from Youngho. Youngho only; Taeil had abandoned him already. Very few are from Jeno asking if he already left, and they were from five hours ago. He looks at the time, shocked that he finds it is already the morning. A few more scrolls down his screen, and the phone dies in his hand. 

“Fuck this”, he lets out shakily to no one. His eyes are terribly burning now, and the migraine is still there. How odd. Was this some kind of post-crying fatigue?

Before tiredness completely take over him, he has half the mind to go back to where he really belonged. An abandoned house so dusty that it housed spiders for a few years now. Floors that haven't seen the sunlight in many years. A house Donghyuck barely has the memory of. He was afraid of going back there again. If he goes, his parents won't be there, having an apartment each so far away from him, yet he was afraid that their hateful arguments would still echo around the rooms. His older brother won't be there either. No one will be. But what difference did it make, if his arrival at the place he called home offered him an angry Taeil and a disappointed Youngho?

He was dreading it, but he was going to make it there. He had to leave the couple. Donghyuck couldn't think anymore. His head aching with every thought. He knows. He leans heavily on the walls at his back and he shuts his eye.

-

The wind is chilly on his back, but it's okay because his face is warm on whatever he was leaning on. A hand cards gently through his hair, and he sighs. Where was he? The fingers on his head feel unfamiliar. It also felt odd, a sensation he hadn't felt before. To be touched with so much care and love. Donghyuck wanted to glue his eyes shut forever, so that he never disturbs whatever spell was cast. Suddenly everything from last night hits him like a rain shower of bricks. He moves to stand up so fast he starts to feel dizzy. He leans heavily on one of the dusty lockers just as a blazer falls off his shoulder. 

“Easy there”, Mark says in his damned sweet low voice. It sounds too loud for the silent morning in the lockers room. He shuffles closer to him beckoning the boy to hold his hand. Donghyuck just stares at him. Is he dreaming? Is this some sort of alternative universe he slipped into? 

“When- why are you here?”, Donghyuck looks away from Mark. The captain's stare was too unbearably kind. He shivers from the dancing wind, which slips through the window he left open yesterday. Mark takes the blazer that fell when Donghyuck stood up and he wraps it again around the younger's shoulder.

“When you left yesterday I had time to think. a-and people are looking for you Donghyuck”, He sighs his hands resting on donghyuck’s shoulders as though he was afraid that Donghyuck would run away again. “Your brothers-“ , Mark scrunches his nose cutely, “Your parents? Well, the point is they are looking for you.” Donghyuck opens his mouth trying to process what Mark was saying, trying to think of where exactly the older boy fell in that explanation, “They were worried sick last night, Jeno too, that was how I found out that you up and ran away. The only place I knew of to search for you is here”

Mark’s right hand slowly follows the curve of his nape up to Donghyuck’s neck while the other still on his shoulder. It felt hot and burning against his skin. Hot tears flooded his eyes and Donghyuck shivers again eyes squeezed shut to stop the stupid tears. _Stop_ , he begged silently. Without hesitating for a second, Mark envelops him in a hug, and Donghyuck felt a ridiculous amount of warmth spread to the tips of his toes. “I’ll take you home now okay?” Mark’s words came out muffled against his hair. God he must have smelled awful. How was Mark not revolted?

They end up walking because Mark came searching for him running. Without even asking, he takes Donghyuck’s hand in his and laces their fingers together, palm to palm and it feels terribly romantic. It was something so chaste yet something Donghyuck never did before. Like a boundary being crossed impulsively, Donghyuck let him and he curled his fingers in reciprocation. Every plan he had of running away and never seeing both Taeil and Youngho again were forgotten with Mark’s soft fingers circling his. It felt as though things will be okay. They can be okay. 

Mark didn't look better than Donghyuck felt, but he still managed to make it look presentable. His hair was a beautiful mess of black on his head and his white shirt was wrinkled and his tie askew. Mark catches him staring at him, but the older boy just smiles warmly at him. Oh that smile. How it does things to him. Things he gave up on trying to understand,

“Youngho and Taeil aren't my parents. They aren't related to me at all”, Donghyuck speaks looking at his steps now. The older boy senses that there is more to what he is about to say so he squeezes Donghyuck's hand encouragingly. “But they are the only family I have left. They are my family” 

They reached in no time and donghyuck starts to dread seeing them again. He slows down his steps and Mark’s hand tighten around his again. They barely make it to the front when the door flies open and a teary eyed, snotty faced Taeil pulls him inside. 

“You idiot! Don't you dare pull stunt like that ever again!”, Taeil yells in his ear while suffocating him in a hug. He had imagined many things on the walk back along Mark, but it wasn't this. Taeil was hugging him. Taeil was holding him close. Taeil did not hate him. It feels like a huge weight had been lifted off his body, and he slumps on the older man. They become a heap of cuddles and tears in the living room while Youngho takes turns ruffling their hair, sniffing trying not to cry. When he calms down, Taeil pulls him up to his room, and Mark must have left because he wasn't there anymore, but his blazer still around Donghyuck’s shoulders. Youngho follows closely behind and he shifts the money that stayed on his bed to the floor.

Donghyuck stares at it guilty and Taeil holds him close, “Baby. look at me. Why did you do this?” Taeil stares at his eyes and Youngho does the same. The question is loaded and it hangs in the air like a canon waiting to be fired. Donghyuck did not know where to start and explain himself, “I just had to do it, hyung. Both of you deserve much more than I saved up. I know that you spent on me much mor-“ 

“No. Stop this nonsense Donghyuck”, Youngho says with finality, “You are like a little brother to me. To the both of us. You are family”, He says and Donghyuck feels like crying all over again. What were the chances that they’d tell him he was family too? , “What we spent on you, we spent out of love. You don't need to return any of it.”, Taeil continues, “God I feel incompetent, Is this why you always insisted on taking part times?”

“Im sorry”, Donghyuck felt like he had to apologize. “No no no”, Youngho shakes his head and Taeil tuts, “You don't have to apologize, you brat. Just promise me that you’ll leave all these money issues to the adults okay?”

“I thought you two wouldn't love me anymore”, his hands are tight fists now. He felt so scared of voicing his thoughts, “I thought your love had run out.” And it makes him feel even smaller, telling them how he truly felt, when he understands what they both are trying to do now; letting him be a child while they bear the responsibility of taking care of him like it wasn't hard at all.

Instead of responding, Taeil just holds him close again, 

“You are our family Donghyuck. If you had gone forever it would have destroyed us”

Donghyuck hadn't known that what he was doing, thinking, and feeling this whole time weighed him down this much. He felt freed, because he mattered. Like he could walk and not guard his back too afraid of the past, or strain his eyes squinting to see the future. He could walk down his own road and find both Taeil and Youngho by his side. Light was shed on the monster he was dreadfully terrified of, and it wasn't there. The monster had been a figment of his imagination; something born out of past experiences. It wasn't fully gone, but at least now he knows it’s not really there. 

-

The next day Donghyuck wakes up with a sigh of relief. However, somehow, the itch he had been feeling wasn't scratched properly. Only when he is halfway through lunch with Taeil's worried eyes glancing at him so often, and Youngho's lame jokes trying to alleviate the mood, he realizes what he has to do. He goes to his room after washing the dishes along with Youngho, indulging him by singing along to a horrible imitation of an Adele song turned duet. He catches Taeil humming to a few lines with them, and it makes him feel lighter. In his room he takes out the suit he borrowed from Jeno, freshly cleaned and ironed from the dry cleaners down the road, then he finds all the money he stuffed back under his bed (the couple still refused to take any of it, so he decided he'll portion it as his allowance until he graduates and buy them both a gift since their anniversary was coming up) and he chooses two 50 dollar bills from the pile, then he goes to his closet taking out three neatly folded garments: a white workout tee, a black jumper, and a neat blazer.

It's silly but before Donghyuck puts the set of clothing in a bag, he brings the black jumper up to his nose to take a whiff. It was the only garment that he hadn't washed yet. It smells of amber perfume, which Mark seemed to love on his clothing, and faintly of sweat. Donghyuck knows now what he wants to stay smelling for the rest of his life. 

He thinks of Youngho calming a frantic Taeil with a touch. He thinks of himself waking up on Mark's lap post-prom breakdown, and feeling like all the world's most serious problems have been solved. He thinks of Taeil carelessly napping on Youngho, and Youngho looking comfortable under him keeping his movements to a minimum lest he wakes up the older. He thinks of every single time he saw them stealing kisses from each other and cuddling on the couch. He thinks about how he wants it too with Mark. He thinks about how it would work out, about how it would feel like. Would it be the same feeling of contentment he felt when Mark held his hand, or would it be more?

He texts Jeno first. He tells him he is coming over and then he leaves without waiting for a reply. He had been to Jeno’s extravagant house before. It was even more overwhelmingly beautiful and big compared to Taeil and Youngho’s, thanks to his mother. Jeno had a whole floor that was dedicated to him and his many hobbies. He doesn't get a reply on his way to the boy's house, but he finds him sitting on a swing set his family installed in their front garden recently,

“Hi”, Donghyuck says like he's testing the waters once he stands near him, “I brought your suit back. Thank you for-“ but Donghyuck doesn't get to continue because he gets a mouthful of Jeno’s hair when he jumps of the swing to embrace him,

“I hate you”, Jeno says

“Im sorry-“, Donghyuck tries but he is rendered speechless again when jeno breaks their embrace to look him in the eye, “No. I am sorry. I shouldn't have left you yesterday. I knew that this shit was getting hard on you but I did nothing. This Jaemin bullshit. Its my fault for letting you go through with it when I knew exactly what Jaemin can do. and it was shitty but I ignored your calls when you tried to reach me and I rea- really”, Jeno chokes on his words for a second, “I really thought you left for real. Taeil and Youngho had no idea where you had gone and I-“ 

Jeno stops talking when he hears Donghyuck’s mirthful laughter fill the empty garden. The flowers rustle, and he is suddenly hyper aware of how their pinks and oranges shine against the greens. He laughs and his shoulder shake with pure happiness. Donghyuck laughs for how dumb he feels. He had so many loving and great people around him, yet he chose not to see. He realizes the extent of the damaging world of thoughts he lived in now. He had been searching for the things that were right in front of his eyes this whole time. He hugs Jeno who lets a yelp of surprise, “Dumbass. You know you are my bestest friend, right?” Jeno giggles,

“and you are my bestest friend, you bigger dumbass”

-

Donghyuck contemplates for a long time about how to give Jaemin his money back. The pink haired boy never acknowledges his existence now that he doesn't attend cheer practice. He doesn't seem miserable either. There are no pink letters falling in his locker anymore. And the longer Donghyuck stalls the more it weighs on him. So he spends most of his time during cheer and soccer practice in the old lockers room. He works on his homework, while he waits for a spurge of braveness that’ll allow him to walk out and hand Jaemin his money back. Sometimes he’d stare at the boys outside sweating and running. He’d miss the privilege of staring at Mark closely. He would look at the captain kicking a ball and then smiling in joy and miss the tiny moment he allowed himself to have when he handed the boy a bottle of water. The small candid smiles they’d share. Giving Jaemin his money back doesn't happen, and the days slip away with Donghyuck doing homework he’d usually keep for the weekend.

When will he ever do this? He needed to do it for some sort of closure, but whenever he came close to it his mind would find an excuse to do something else. 

On a Wednesday though, when the day ends, and Donghyuck stuffs his book back in annoyance at himself, the door opens with a whine,

“Walk you home?”, Mark asks, and Donghyuck finds himself smiling.

Donghyuck wasn’t exactly avoiding Mark, but he rarely saw him. Quitting the cheer team made him realize how different their worlds were still. It was so rare for them to even cross paths in the corridors, or bump into each other in the cafeteria. Donghyuck misses him, but he doesn't know how to get around to tell him that. So he just nods feeling coy when Mark holds the door open for him, as though he had done it a million times before. Like he had always been waiting for Donghyuck.

This time, its his own fingers which betray him first and reach out for Mark’s. Their hands tighten around each other immediately and Mark smiles down at him,

“Your hands are always soft”, Mark says and donghyuck flushes in embarrassment. Mark was an idiot. There was no way his hands were softer than his. And when he says that Mark pulls at his arm playfully. 

“Mark-“

“Donghyuck-”

They both say at the same time. Then they both try to prompt the other to go first and it makes Donghyuck laugh at how dumb they must sound. He gives in,

“I’m sorry. About everything. I know I shouldn't have tried to play match maker with Jaemin. And I would have genuinely supported your relationship with him. you guys look perfect together, but instead I made a mess of everything because of my feelings for you”, the sun is already set and the crickets in the nights are getting loud and it takes Donghyuck a few beats to realize what he just said. He pulls his hand free from Mark’s hand and covers his mouth in nervousness. Halting his steps altogether too shocked to process what just happened. This was not supposed to happen. He was definitely not planning to confess to Mark today.

The older stares at him mouth agape. Slowly his lips turn into a smile and his eyes curve, “You have feelings for me?” Mark asks, and Donghyuck feels his face flush, “Forget I said anything!”, Donghyuck lets out weakly trying to move past the soccer player. Mark laughs and nimbly takes a hold of Donghyuck’s wrist successfully uncovering his face before he manages to scurry away, 

“No. Lee Donghyuck. Look at me.”, Mark laughs and Donghyuck notices that his protruding ears are flushed in red. He holds Donghyuck’s face in his hands, and Donghyuck wants to do many things at once. He wants to yell at Mark and tell him how soft his hands feel. He wants to run away and act like none of this happened. He wants to pull Mark’s face closer and kiss him senseless. But he can't do any of those things because Mark’s hands anchor him to the ground. He feels intensely weak, like his bones turned into wiggling jelly. “I like you. You have no idea Donghyuck. I have been entranced by you since the first moment I saw you.”

And Dongyuck thinks about how harsh it is that he is dreaming such a vivd dream, “I swear if I'm just dreaming right now I’ll be so angry”, Donghyuck says squeezing his eyes shut. Mark takes a hold of Donghyuck’s hand, and places it on where his heart should be underneath his hard chest. Donghyuck feels Mark’s heart thumping embarrassingly loud and rapid like his, “You make me nervous Donghyuck. I like you. Regardless of what happened. Its going to take more than that to change what I feel for you”

“Sweet jesus. Shut up” Donghyuck says unintelligently. He feels like he’ll explode if Mark kept on talking. Mark laughs again and then he is leaning in, and Donghyuck waits for it. He had been there before and he knows that Mark is leaning in to kiss him. He waits for his lips to land on his, but instead they stop a hair away, “I really want to kiss you right now.” he says. Hot breath mixing with Donghyuck’s. Any other time, he would have called Mark an idiot out loud. The boy was leaning in and stopping a second away and it’s driving him insane. Donghyuck leans closer, “Go for it”, he mumbles against his lips. 

And it really is an explosion of warmth, emotion, and color after that. Every other emotion he had felt towards Mark did not hold a candle to this moment. Donghyuck felt weak in the knees. If Mark hadn't pulled him impossibly closer, making sure to slot his lips against Donghyuck’s without breaking his nose in the process, he would have melted to a puddly mess right now. Mark’s tongue brushes lightly against his lips and it makes him whimper due to the heat of it all. He only pushes the older away, flushed and flustered, when he remembers that they are still in public. 

“Wow” Mark breathes, and Donghyuck hides his face in embarrassment. He moves away keeping his eye to the ground and moving towards his home. Mark jogs up to him and holds his hand again. 

When they arrive, Donghyuck tells him to wait as he fetches the clothes that belong to him, “You really don't have to return any of it. Also that shirt looks cuter on you” Mark says, and Donghyuck is flustered once again. It was a plain shirt but Mark thought it looked cuter on him? How insane. Donghyuck tries to insist that he had to give it back but Mark just shakes his head. He tells Donghycuk to wait instead, as he takes off his soccer varsity jacket, the one with a large ‘MARK LEE’ embroidery on the back, and the one he wore every where around school. He puts it around Donghyuck’s shoulder and he smiles, pulling him closer from where was still grasping the varsity jacket. He kisses Donghyuck’s lips chastely, then his cheeks, “I knew this would look cuter on you too.” 

Donghyuck feels like he is floating at this point. Something must have gone wrong in the algorithms of life, or maybe he simply used up all his luck to have this, mark kissing him and speaking like an idiot in love. But he wasn't complaining, “Shut up. I cant believe you’re such a sap” Mark kisses him loudly one last time before stepping back, “But? you have feelings for me. How embarrassing for you Lee Donghyuck. Good night, I’ll see you tomorrow”

Mark walks backward and he only looks back when Donghyuck tells him to have a good night too. He had never felt this amount of delight and contentment in his life. 

-

In school, everyone forgets about the whole prom ordeal. Everyone likes Jaemin again. Everything is back to normal, except no one but Donghyuck knows about the whereabouts of Mark Lee’s varsity jacket. A few disappointed girls are vocal about it not being with Jaemin, _they looked so cute_ , they kept on saying. Mark, to Donghyuck’s surprise, is whiney about it too, “Why won't you wear it?”, he asked once, while they were working on their homework in the old lockers room. Donghyuck rolled his eyes, “Well why don't you wear it then, you buffoon” and Mark whined loudly again holding Donghyuck’s face in his hand, “You are so annoying, but I like you. and I like seeing you in my darned jacket. Still annoying, again, but I like you”, he pouts. Donghyuck smiles despite himself and despite the fact Mark called him annoying twice. He leans in to smooch his pout. It shuts Mark up and he forgets all about his argument in favor of making out with his boyfriend.

Jeno, who is the only other student aware of their relationship, is immensely happy about it. He tells Donghyuck that he deserves love from the boy he likes. He also points out how Mark is almost like a little youngho, and it makes Donghyuck hold his face in mortification at what fate had tied him to.

-

The end of the school year looms over, and Donghyuck barely has time to see anyone in the midst of his haste to pass his exams. Taeil and Youngho leave him to his own devices; already used to his habits of extremely focusing on studying and getting irritable whenever disturbed. Mark sends him a cute good-morning and goodnight text everyday, keeping a small distance when he catches the memo that well, Donghyuck _needed_ to study or else he wont rest, it was finals week for god's sake. Jeno crashes into his room somedays groveling for Donghyuck to help him study, and Donghyuck, against his better judgment gives in. On a Saturday, when Donghyuck starts on his last set of proofing identities, Jeno groans from where he’s settled on the ground in Donghyuck’s room, open books framing him, “I think I’ll just dig a hole and die. Calculus is NOT for me.” Donghyuck only hums in response not really paying attention to his friend. He really wanted to finish the last set of problems before the sun sets today, and the sky was already dimming. 

“When are you leaving today anyways?”, Jeno asks. Donghyuck gives him an incredulous glare, “This is my room Jen. When are _you_ leaving?” 

“No, you idiot. I thought we were going to the final match today?”, Donghyuck stops writing, swiveling in his chair to face Jeno, school work completely forgotten, “Match?” 

“Seriously Donghyuck. Your boyfriend is a whole soccer captain and you don't know? We are already late anyways”, Jeno shrugs then goes back to the open textbook on his right.

_oh._

Mark did not say anything about a match today. Mark did not say anything about anything. All he does is ask about Donghyuck’s day via text or phone call and its always a repetition of them discussing upcoming exams and how stressful it all was. Donghyuck suddenly realizes how he hadn't once asked about Mark’s matches. He tells Jeno that they are leaving right now. Jeno stands up grateful for a break from studying (even though the boy had been having a snack break every 10 minutes) and rushes to the door. Donghyuck almost follows him, but then he spots the varsity jacket resting on his bed. He snatches it and puts it on his shoulder, before he changes his mind. 

The school soccer field is an explosion of celebration when they arrive. The soccer match ended and he spots his boyfriend on Lucas’s shoulder panicking trying not to fall as the taller boys jumps in celebration enthusiastically. Like a cliched moment, Mark spots him behind the frenzy of people walking down the bleachers. He smiles widely, jumping off Lucas’s shoulders, almost face planting on the grass, and making his way to Donghyuck. 

Mark is sweaty and glistening, and a little more of his thighs are exposed from where his shorts rode up during his mini activity on Lucas’s shoulders. The lights reflect off his cheekbones when he comes closer. He wastes no time in trapping his boyfriend in a hug, “You made it.” he says loud and clear in Donghyuck’s ear to be heard above all the chatter, “and you're wearing my jacket” Donghyuck pulls away to look at Mark’s joyful expression. He wants to capture his expression and store it somewhere he could look at over and over again because he doesn’t think he’ll ever get enough. 

Mark is sweaty and he has his arms around him, and in public, but Donghyuck doesn't think he cares anymore. Mark blinks against the black hair strands, drenched in sweat, which poke his eyes, but he stubbornly keeps his eyes and hands on Donghyuck. The younger feels the familiar thrilling warmth that spreads in his body and he moves to sweep Mark’s hair out of his eyes holding his face close, “Why didn't you tell me?”, he asks softly. and he thinks it was too low, so he's about to ask again but Mark takes the hand Donghyuck had rested on his cheeks and presses a kiss on his open palm,

“I didn't want to stress you out. I know how busy it is right now.”, and Donghyuck bites his lower lip. What did he ever do to deserve this? Mark purposely omitted telling him about this important match in their numerous conversations to not stress him out and give him the space he needed to focus on studying. Mark prioritized him and the work he does before anything. Donghyuck pecks him, square on the lips, “Don’t be an idiot. I’ll always want to be a part of this regardless of how busy I get. I want to see you play and win.”

Mark kisses him properly and with purpose this time.

It is safe to say the gossiping students now know who has a hold of the soccer captain’s varsity jacket. 

and the myth starts, Leos and Geminis are made for each other; each a part of a whole.

**Author's Note:**

> Twt: @BaeksHyuck


End file.
